Biology

Staraptor is a brown-gray, avian Pokémon resembling a cross between a large gray and white starling and a hawk. It has white patches on its forehead, throat, and chest. The white spot on a female Staraptor's forehead is smaller than on a male. Its crest, neck, chest pattern, and tips of its tail feathers are black. The downward-facing, red-tipped crest on its head makes it appear larger in order to frighten its enemies. After evolution into Staraptor, it leaves its flock to live alone. It fusses over the shape of its comb. It is a highly aggressive and dangerous Pokémon; it never stops attacking even if it is injured. It has the stamina to capture and eat prey larger than itself; it usually pursues its prey in the forest using its maneuverability. Staraptor lives in an array of habitats including open forest, grassland, wetland, mountains, and coniferous forests.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Staraptor is one of the Pokémon used by the Advanced level Grunt of Team Galactic. It was first used to take the Grunt to the destroyed camera machine used by Saturn in his fight against Paka and Uji. It was later used in the mugging of Mr. Berlitz and later to battle Diamond at the Galactic HQ.

Trivia

Origin

Staraptor is based on the white-cheeked starling, a common species of bird found throughout Asia, combined with a bird of prey. Although it largely resembles the starling in appearance, much of its inspiration comes from hawks and falcons, particularly its predatory nature and aerial speed. It also has strong similarities to the harpy eagle. The feathers hanging over its face are similar to the long-crested eagle.